Chapter 183 Cowards and Courage
"They said I was a coward and they wouldn't play with me anymore..."
Perhaps crying helped him vent some of the suppressed sadness in his heart. After a burst of loud crying, Sang Xinghao finally sobbed and told the whole story.
There are quite a lot of children in Qingxi Village. Most of them are about the same age as Sang Xinghao. There are also many younger children who play with the older children.
As for older children, they can only be found in the market outside the canyon.
In the eyes of adults of this era, children aged eight or nine are considered half adults and can help with housework.
I cook, wash clothes, and fetch water for the adults at home, and occasionally go to the edge of the mountains to dig some wild vegetables. I don’t have time to let them go out and play.
In addition, every household was reluctant to buy too many sweets for their children, so Sang Xinghao, who brought his own candied fruits and candies to join them, was warmly welcomed by everyone almost instantly.
Sang Xinghao, who had never lived in the mountains and had no idea that these seemingly boring leaves and rocks in front of him had their own fun, naturally became quickly addicted to them.
The two parties were willing to do so and had a lot of fun playing together every day. Gradually, a situation was formed with Sang Xinghao as the leader.
The former leader and boss of the team suddenly felt unhappy and insisted on competing with Sang Xinghao to see who could jump across the stream in one breath. If he couldn't jump across, he would be kicked out.
Sang Xinghao, who had been repeatedly warned by Sang Yu, would definitely refuse directly and ask for a different method of competition.
However, the other party mistakenly thought that he was afraid of water and laughed at him as a "coward". The other children also thought he was too timid and shouted that they would not play with him anymore.
"Hao'er, you did the right thing. It's not your fault." After listening to his story, Sang Yu reached out to wipe the tears from his face and first affirmed his behavior.
"Then, then why, why are they..."
Sang Xinghao cried for so long that he couldn't help sobbing when he spoke, and his speech was intermittent.
Fortunately, Sang Yu understood what he meant. While patting his back to help him calm down, she explained to him, "A person's courage and ability cannot be determined by whether they can jump over a stream."
"If you have to jump over a stream and still take the risk, that's courage. Just wanting to show your courage by jumping over a stream is not only disrespectful to your own life, but also naive."
What she said was a little beyond Sang Xinghao's ability to understand. He looked at her blankly with his tear-swollen eyes, and then shook his head slightly.
"Sister, I don't understand."
"Well, let's change to an example that Hao'er can understand."
After pondering for a moment, Sang Yu gave a simple example: "If my sister was injured and fainted on the other side of the stream, and Hao'er had medicine that could cure her, what would Hao'er do?"
"Go and deliver the medicine to my sister." Sang Xinghao understood now and answered decisively.
"What if the stream was replaced by a turbulent river? If you're not careful, you'll be swept away by the river. Will Hao'er still go there?"
This time, Sang Xinghao hesitated for a moment, imagining the scene she described in his mind.
In front of him was a turbulent river. The sister on the other side of the river was injured and unconscious, and her wound was still bleeding, while he had medicine in his hand.
"I will go too!" Even if he was washed away by the river, he would still give the medicine to his sister.
"Hao'er, this is true courage." Sang Yu smiled slightly and gently rubbed his little head.
Sang Xinghao felt as if he understood something. According to what his sister said, jumping over the stream does not prove bravery, but not jumping over it does not mean that he is a coward.
but……
"But they said they won't play with me anymore." Thinking of this, his mouth pursed and he wanted to cry again, but in the end he held it back and didn't cry out loud.
Sang Yu was just about to comfort him, saying that children have short memories and would not remember what they said today in a few days. When the time comes, he can just bring some candies and preserves over and he will be able to play with them again.
Before she could say anything, she heard faint shouting outside.
She listened for a while, and her expression gradually became serious.
The people outside were shouting nothing but - "Help, someone fell into the water!"
She was just about to put Sang Xinghao down and go out to see if she could help, when she suddenly thought of a possibility and quickly asked, "Where did you compete in the long jump?"
Sang Yu held Sang Xinghao's hand, and the two of them walked out of the yard quickly together.
Not far downstream along the clear stream, we saw a large group of people gathered in a narrow area of water.
"Sister, it's over there!" Sang Xinghao pointed in the direction of the crowd with her little hand.
Sang Yu thought to himself, as expected, I have lived in Qingxi Village for so long, and I have never heard of anyone falling into the water on weekdays. How come someone happened to fall into the water today after Sang Xinghao had a long jump competition with others?
The stream seems narrow and you can jump to the other side with a light jump, but under the constant rush of water, the pebbles on the streamside and the moss on the pebbles can easily make people lose their balance and slip into the water.
A group of children were isolated on the periphery of the crowd, all with bewildered expressions on their faces, as if they had no idea what was happening, or as if they were too frightened to recover.
"Hao'er, just stay here. I'll go in and take a look."
There were too many people. If Sang Xinghao was brought in, Sang Yu was afraid that he would be accidentally knocked down or fall into the stream by the crowded crowd. It would be safer to leave him outside.
"Well, sister, you go ahead. I'm not going anywhere and will wait for you here." Sang Xinghao nodded obediently.
Only then did Sang Yu walk in with confidence, pass through the crowd, and walk downstream for a while. Only then did he see that in the lower reaches of the stream, people had already held hands and formed a human wall.
A figure floated in the stream, drifting with the current, seemingly lifeless.
As the figure floated in front of the wall of people, pairs of hands took over and lifted the person to the shore.
He was a little boy who looked about seven or eight years old. He was quite strong and his belly was bulging. It was obvious that he had drunk a lot of water.
Sang Yu originally wanted to see how they rescued the child, but after the child was rescued, someone put his hand under his nose to check his breath, and then shook his head and sighed.
The others also sighed and stopped taking any other action.
Immediately afterwards, a burst of crying was heard, and a young woman, who should be the child's mother, threw herself on the child.
...Give up already? No more attempts to save the situation?
Seeing them pulling the woman away and trying to carry the child away, Sang Yu quickly stepped forward and said, "Don't touch him yet, he can still be saved!"
When the young woman heard this, she was suddenly shocked and fell to her knees.
She cried and begged, "Please, save our Bao'er. I kowtow to you, please."
She didn't care how young Sang Yu was, or whether she had the ability to save people. As long as there was a glimmer of hope, she was willing to try.
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